Echoes In The Snow
by reno-xxxXXXxxx
Summary: Part II in a Series... As Reno and Rihanna's brothersister relationship rebuilds itself, they face many bumps in the road that threaten their stability. Will Reno be able to hold it together this time, or will they both fall apart?
1. The Rookie

**Authors note: **Welcome to my sequel for "Memories and Regrets. After all the nice reviews I got, 46 and counting, I hope this one will be as successful. If you haven't read "memories and regrets" you probably shoudl coz you may not get some parts if this if not. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1 – The Rookie

It had only taken a few months for the two red-heads to become inseparable again. Although Rihanna wasn't really part of the Turks, she always tagged along whenever Reno went on missions. Luckily for her they hadn't been on any dangerous missions yet.

Rihanna wasn't just a sister to Reno; she was also a kind of conscious. Whenever he was doing something to really get on one of the others nerves, and he didn't realise he was so close to being murdered, she would stop him, before something serious happened. She may have been very similar to Reno, but she took things a little bit more seriously.

That day had been a particularly boring one. Not even any paperwork, to Reno's delight; and Elena's annoyance. Just as she was about to turn around and smack him in the face after having about 50 paperclips flicked at her, Tseng walked into the room.

"Rihanna, Rufus wants to see you, now." He said seriously.

"What? Why?" Rihanna asked.

"You'll soon find out." He pointed to the door, smiling slightly. Rihanna left nervously.

"Whatever it is, it was Elena, neither of us." Said Reno quickly. Tseng nearly laughed.

"Not everyone gets sent to Rufus' office because their in trouble, Reno."

* * *

"Reno?" Rihanna called. She had just got back to Reno's apartment after speaking to Rufus, to find Reno asleep on the couch. She prodded him in the ribs.

"Reno, wake up!" she said louder.

"Whaddamatter?" said Reno groggily.

"Reno, I have something to tell you." She waited for a minute while Reno sat up properly on the couch.

"What?" Then he remembered. "What did Rufus say?"

"That's what I want to tell you!" she sounded excited.

"Go on." He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"I'm a Turk!" she said ecstatically. "Rufus said with training, I have the potential to join."

"That's great. I thought he would end up doing that. As long as you know it's not all easy work we do…"

"Yeah, I've heard about half the stuff that's happened to you. How the hell did you throw yourself off a two-story, burning building and only end up with a broken arm and leg?"

"I think we're all still trying to work that one out." Reno said, smirking slightly.

"So it can be really dangerous then?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Rihanna looked a way from him a minute, she looked very nervous.

"Do the others know yet?"

"Nope, not yet."

"Well Elena will be happy. She's not the rookie anymore."

"Yeah, you'll have to think of a new nickname."

"I'm sure I can think of one." He smirked.

* * *

Reno sat in silence, looking out of the window. Just a few months ago, he was so depressed; he didn't even want to think about getting through each day. Now he really saw how lucky he was. He and his sister had rebuilt their strong relationship already, and nothing would break down that stability now. There was still a little uncertainty in the back of his mind, but he was sure that was just brotherly instinct, worrying about his sister joining the Turks.

He found himself watching the people on the streets below, wondering what kind of lifestyle they had. Had they been a child in poverty, grown up way too fast? Or were they from the kind of rich, snobby family; the kind that Reno liked to destroy? He looked up at the darkening sky, still deep in thought. What would become of them now? Being a Turk was a dangerous job; would Rihanna be able to handle it? Then again, she had been stronger than him before, so why not again?

"Reno?" Rihanna's bright voice brought him out of his reminiscence. He turned to look at her, she looked worried.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I'm just…worried. What kind of thing will I have to do? Will I have to…you know…?" she was skirting the real question she wanted to ask.

"I know he seems like it, but Tseng's not completely heartless. You want have to do anything hard at first, and if you do, you'll get shoved with me. That's what happened when Elena joined." He pretended to grimace at the thought of his missions with Elena. Rihanna laughed.

"You sure?" she still sounded worried.

"Don't worry about it, okay? Trust me, you'll be fine." He smiled at her.

"What?" she said, seeing the amused look on his face.

"I really never thought this would happen." He told her.

"What?" she repeated.

"Well, until a few months ago, I thought you were dead, and now you've joined the Turks."

"Well, it's good that you're alright now."  
"Let's just hope it stays this way."


	2. Unexpected Surprises

**Authors note: **Chapter 2!! You can probably gather where the title comes from after reading this, lol. Enjoy

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Chapter 2 – Unexpected Surprises

The next few days were completely lifeless. There was absolutely no work for any of them, and even Tseng and Rude were starting to get restless.

"Why the hell are we all here?" said Reno, who was nearly bored to tears, "We might as well be at home."

"Rufus said he wanted us here just in case." Said Tseng for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Just in case of what?" Reno screwed up the piece of paper he was doodling on and threw it at Elena.

"Hey!" she shouted, turning around. Tseng sighed and shook his head; it was going to be a long day.

"Reno!" Elena said loudly. "Will you please stop tapping on the table?" Reno smirked and tapped louder still. Elena sighed and looked at Tseng. He glared at them both, making Reno stop tapping. An awkward silence followed.

"Oh for…can someone please think of something to do?" Rihanna said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I actually starting to miss paperwork here…" Reno added. Rude stared at him.

"That's it." Tseng said, jumping to his feet. "I'm going to see Rufus; this is getting beyond a joke now." He left the room, leaving the other four Turks in silence.

* * *

"Reno?" he felt someone shake him. "Wake up!" He opened his eyes to see Rihanna and Elena standing next to him.

"What…?" he said, dazed.

"Tseng just said we need to go see Rufus…now." Rihanna said.

"Who?"

"You two, idiot." Elena sighed.

"Alright, there's no need to get personal." He said, getting up. He walked out of the room, Rihanna right behind him.

This was the first time Reno had ever been to Rufus' office without preparing for some sort of lecture, except when he first joined the Turks. He looked over at Rihanna, she looked worried.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"What do you suppose he wants?" he looked up at him.

"Not a clue…" he wasn't worried, but he was curious. He opened Rufus' door and stepped inside, Rihanna hiding behind him.

"I was wondering how long it would take you two to get here." Rufus said, getting up from his desk. He smiled.

"Don't look so worried, you two. I only called you here for a mission."

"Why get us to come all the way up here then? Why didn't you just tell Tseng…wait a minute…"

"I called you here because I want you two to go alone…and it could get quite dangerous." Rufus told them.

"So, where we going?" Reno asked casually. He was much more relaxed now.

"I want you to go up to the Great Glacier. There's an unusual amount of monster activity there…we need to know why."

"Why would we care?" Reno said. Rihanna laughed slightly.

"It's dangerous for everyone, and no-one else is about to sort it out. We've already had two members of Shinra attacked up there. There's no point in people being killed for no reason…"

"Looks like _we're_ about to be killed for no reason." Reno muttered under his breath. Rihanna faltered slightly.

"I want you to check out the area, then report back to Tseng with any information you might find."

"Yeah…okay…" Reno said looking at him.  
"I realise this is dangerous for both of you, but Rihanna needs to get an idea of a real mission, and you…well…" he stopped.

"So when are we going?" Reno asked.

"You're going to be there for a while probably so, you can set out tomorrow. Be prepared."


	3. Icy Welcome

**Authors note:** Hehe, yay another update!! I loved writing this chapter, i dont know why. lol. Enjoy

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Chapter 3 – Icy Welcome 

"Oh my fucking God!! It's so cold…" Reno said, shivering. Upon arriving at the Great Glacier about half an hour ago, Reno had complained at least 10 times about the weather.

"What do you expect?" said Rihanna, she was also shivering; even though she had the sense to have put on extra layers before they set out.

"Yeah but, this is just unnecessary." Reno said in a whiny voice. Rihanna sighed. It looked like Reno was in was of those moods.

They treaded carefully through the thick snow, until they got to a small cabin. Reno looked at Rihanna and nodded; together they stepped inside.

The cabin was small and dark inside. If it wasn't for the walls keeping the icy wind off them, it would be just as cold inside as it was out. Reno wiped the melting snow and water off his face, and brushed away the stray locks of his saturated, fiery hair.

"Now what?" he asked her. Rihanna sat down on the hard floor and opened the bag she had been carrying on her back. She pulled out the paper that Tseng had given them so they wouldn't forget the details of the mission. He couldn't quite trust Rihanna wasn't as forgetful as Reno yet.

"Well, there's nothing specific." She said, reading the paper, "We just have to check the area." She got up and looked out of the window. "Up there, look."

"What?" Reno stepped forwards and looked to where his sister was pointing. There was an old, slightly crumbly looking cave a little way uphill.

"If we head up there, keeping an eye out on the way up…then we can plan where we go after that. There might be something in that cave." Rihanna suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Reno said casually. He was still shivering.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned with his less-than-enthusiastic attitude.

"Yeah." He shuddered, "Me and cold just don't go together, that's all."

* * *

Neither of them could see a thing ahead of them as they headed uphill. The snow was falling heavy around them, making it difficult to move very fast. Their tracks were being covered behind them as fast as they were making them. They didn't say a word until they got to the cave entrance above them.

"Reno?" Rihanna gasped, wiping the snow out of her eyes. Reno was leaning against the cave wall, breathing very heavily. His face was as white as the snow around them.

"I'm alright. I just can't stand the cold…" he panted.

"Okay…" Rihanna wasn't so sure. She remembered all the events from a few months ago. She hadn't been overly convinced since yesterday that Reno was ready for a mission that sounded this dangerous. Especially with just her as back up if something bad were to happen to him.

"Don't look so worried." Reno said, smiling weakly. He lowered himself to the floor. "You reckon we can stay in here for a while?" he said, looking up at her.

"We'll stay until the snow dies down a little." Rihanna said, giving in to Reno's never-quavering stare.

* * *

It must have been a good few hours they were sitting, waiting for the snow to thin. Rihanna wasn't sure; her watch had stopped working a while ago. Reno was sitting beside her, huddling up to try and warm himself. His eyes were half closed, so she wasn't sure if he was asleep or not. She poked him.

"Huh?" he jerked awake.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he said groggily.

"Reno…are you sure you're ready to do something like this?" she decided to get her worries off her chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, it's just the cold."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Honestly, you're as bad as Elena."

Rihanna laughed. She knew only to worry when Reno's sense of humour vanished again. She looked at him; he had settled back down beside her, his eyes completely closed. Sometimes, she felt like she was the older one. Maybe Reno's maturity was somewhere else in his personality.

"You've made her much happier, you know." Reno's voice came from below her.

"Huh, why?"

"Elena. She was getting a bit pissed off with being the only female Turk. I think it's mainly me that put her off actually." He looked up and grinned. "I think she's happy to have you around."

Rihanna looked ahead at the dripping icicles all around the cave. The light from outside was making interesting shadows and reflections on them, causing her to stare absently into the depths of frozen water.

"I think the snow is thinning now." Said Reno. She looked outside the cave; should they go now, or maybe chance leaving it a while? Maybe the snow will have stopped then.

"I wouldn't go out there yet if I were you." Came a bright voice from above them.


	4. Stuck

**Authors note: **Chapter 4! Woo! Don't worry, I'm doing both stories at the same time. This seems a little...gap-like to me, but it aint my fault. Enjoy and review!!

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Chapter 4 - Stuck

Reno and Rihanna watched as someone jumped down from the ledge above them, stumbling slightly upon landing.

"Fancy seeing you here, Turk-boy." The person smiled.

"What the fuck?"

Before the siblings stood none other than Yuffie Kisaragi. She brushed her short, dark hair out of her eyes and smiled widely.

"Not pleased to see me?" she asked.

Reno ignored her and just stared; shocked.

"I'll take that as a no." she turned to Rihanna, "And you are?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." Rihanna replied.

"You look an awful lot like him." She pointed at Reno, "Are you, like related?"

"He's my brother."

It was Yuffie's turn to stare. "You have a sister, Turk-boy?"

"Obviously not, she's just a clone stalker." Said Reno, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
"Oh very funny. So what brings you two here?" she spoke as if they had all been best of friends for ever.

"None of your business."

"Oooh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the floor today." Yuffie laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reno hissed. He was cold, wet and tired; and he wasn't in the mood to be messed around.

"Okay, calm down. I'm only messin' with you!" she looked out of the cave entrance. "Anyway, if you desperately want to go out, go that way." She pointed behind her where the cave twisted off as far as the eye could see. "It takes longer to go straight that way, and we wouldn't want Turk-boy to get frozen now, would we?" her smile was sickeningly sweet.

"Yeah, we'll go when we're ready." Reno said coldly. Yuffie's smile vanished and she knelt down beside Reno.

"Aww, C'mon Reno. You really that disappointed to see me?" she asked, her tone slightly changed.

"Disappointed isn't the word." He looked away from her.

"You're upsetting me. Can't we just… leave our differences behind us?"

Reno suddenly jumped to his feet and looked at her.

"Not another one. You know I got girls screamin' all over me back at Headquarters too? I can never get away, can I?" he smirked. Rihanna opened her mouth to say something, but Reno gave her a cold glare and she shut it again.

"Yeah right, Reno." Yuffie laughed, but didn't pull her stare away from him.

"You see?" she quickly looked away, her face a color to rival Reno's hair. "But seriously, what do you want?"

Yuffie shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, if you don't want me here." She waved at Rihanna and headed off further up the cave.

"If we ever run into that again, just kill me, okay? Save me all that pain."

* * *

After about an hour of walking in the cave, Reno was starting to get extremely annoyed. He was freezing cold, he had a headache, he was tired, and he couldn't see where he was going.

"That fuckin' ninja bitch was leading us on, I swear." He said, exhaustedly. He collapsed on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"You okay?" Rihanna asked sitting down next to him. Reno looked away, trying to hide his exhaustion, not wishing to show weakness in front of his sister. She laughed, noticing what he was trying to do.

"It's the cold Reno, don't worry."

"Huh?"

"You're over-cold. It makes you tired."

"Who said I'm tired?" Reno said defensively. Rihanna shook her head and smiled. She knew Reno would never drop his arrogant walls and swallow his pride; admitting to weakness.

They sat there in semi-darkness, staring at the damp wall in front of them. They didn't know what to do; Rihanna was in-experienced and Reno was to out of it to even talk anymore.

"Reno?" she shook him. "We really need to get out of here." Although they were too far in to see outside, it was obvious that it was getting dark. Every minute that passed seemed to darken their surroundings even more. Soon they would be in pitch black. She shook him again. No response. She suddenly found herself panicking slightly, she had left all their supplies in that cabin, and it didn't look like Reno was going to get up any time soon. She clung to her semi-conscious brother's arm and leaned on his shoulder, trying not to let her eyes drop shut.


	5. Trouble

**Authors note:** Chapter 5 already? Lol. I tried to make it more realistic by putting a sort of personality clash in this chapter. It don't end badly coz of it though! Enjoy & Review!

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Chapter 5 - Trouble

Rihanna felt a drip of icy cold water on her face and opened her eyes sharply. How long had she been asleep for? She looked to her left at Reno, his eyes were still tightly shut. Getting up, she stretched and looked around her, the cave was much lighter that it had been before, telling her she had slept through the whole night. Considering the whole point of this mission was to find out about over-the-top monster activity, they were lucky to not have run into anything yet.

"Reno?" she shook him. When she got no response, her own short temper kicked in. "Reno, you lazy….get up!!" she poked him in the ribs and he jerked awake.

"What the…?" he almost shouted. He looked up at Rihanna, looking slightly puzzled.

"Reno, we gotta get a move on! We've been here a whole day and haven't gotten anywhere. We're on a mission, remember?"

"Yeah, I know." He said casually, stretching his arms. He got to his feet, stumbling slightly.

"Right, now, come on!" Rihanna headed off further into the cave.

* * *

After a very long, very boring walk, they finally show light ahead of them. Their pace quickened in their desperation to get out of that cave. Upon reaching the exit, they were nearly blinded by the shocking brightness of the snow laid out in front of them. The icy wind nearly swept them away, but both of them were too captivated by the beauty of the scene to notice.

"Oh my fucking God!" Reno shouted, Rihanna looked to her right, were Reno was staring. She, too was shocked to see the entrance that they originally went into the cave about 5 metres away from them; the path from it perfectly clear.

"That fucking ninja bitch, I _knew _she was leading us on." Reno screamed in annoyance.

"Reno, it's ok, calm down." Rihanna said, slightly nervously. Suddenly they heard a giggling behind them. Reno turned around sharply to see Yuffie standing in the cave entrance. He hissed at her and started to walk towards her.

"Reno!" Rihanna shouted, quite worried now.

"Uh-oh." Yuffie muttered. She ran forward, her petite frame allowing her to duck easily underneath Reno, and slid down the slope that led to the cave entrance in an attempt to get away. Reno shouted a colourful selection of curse words, and sprinted after her.

"Reno…for God's sake." Rihanna sighed at her brothers impulsive behaviour. She carefully made her way down the slope after Reno, even though she had already lost sight of him.

* * *

When she finally found Reno, it was on a part of the slope they hadn't previously been. He was sitting in the snow, leaning against a tree, trying to get his breath back. He muttered something that Rihanna didn't quite hear.

"Sorry?" she said.

"Fuckin'…materia….theif….hate….bitch." Reno gasped.

"So I can guess from that …sentence, that she stole all your materia?" Rihanna asked. Reno nodded his head. "But that was all the materia we had. What the hell are we gonna do now?" Reno merely shrugged his shoulders. "I told you we should have brought more materia."  
"Yeah well, bit late now." Reno said, starting to get his breath back. Rihanna looked around her, all around them was a vast expanse of white, leaving no clue as to which direction they had originally come from.

"Reno…?" said Rihanna slightly shakily, "We're gonna have to be really careful. No materia, that means no cure materia too. So don't go running off, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Reno shrugged.

"Of course it doesn't help that we're completely lost."

"We are not lost!" Reno said defensively, "We've just temporarily…gone astray."

"Oh yeah? Any ideas how we stop being 'astray'?" Rihanna asked, almost laughing at Reno idiocy.

"Not a clue." Reno replied, jumping to his feet. He looked around him, as though trying to figure out where they were.

"I thought a Turk was supposed to have a good sense of direction?" asked Rihanna. Reno glared at her.

"I do. It's just kinda hard to figure out where you are when every direction you look in is exactly the same." He snapped.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gone running off, then we wouldn't be stuck here!"

Their argument was interrupted by a soft growling noise from somewhere nearby. Rihanna's eyes widened in fear and she moved closer to Reno.

"W-what was that?" she whispered.

"Probably that ninja bitch causing us trouble again…" Reno suggested. He also sounded nervous; of course, the idea of fighting monsters with no materia was not a pleasant one.


	6. Black and White

**Authors note: **Finally! It feels like forever since I updated, but I know it's only a few days! I've had no internet all week! Well, enjoy and review please?

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Chapter 6 – Black and White

"Shit, shit, shit. What the fuck was that?" Reno said nervously. They had heard it, but not seen it.

"I don't know. But we need to find our materia. Quickly." Rihanna replied shakily. Reno stepped cautiously forward, Rihanna right behind him. Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground by a large, black dog-like creature. Rihanna screamed, by Reno, although very shook up, jumped to his feet and unclipped his EMR from his belt.

"Ha, here's me thinking it would be somethin' dangerous." Reno said, laughing. He switched his EMR to full power and charged at the monster. Striking it in the back of the head, Reno sent a jolt of electricity running through it. It fell to the ground; temporarily stunned. Reno lowered his weapon slightly, thinking he had won – but of course, it wasn't going to be that easy.

The dog-creature moved swiftly and ran at Reno; its claws outstretched, and grabbed his left arm, sinking its teeth and claws deep into his flesh. He screamed in pain, closing his eyes tightly. Suddenly, he heard a bang, and the monster let go of his arm. Reno opened his eyes, and looked to Rihanna. She was holding a gun, her hand shaking slightly, and pointing it at the dead animal on the ground.

"Nice shot." Reno said weakly. Rihanna rushed over as she shifted his weight onto one foot, stumbling slightly.

"Reno? Are you okay?" She put her arm around his shoulder to support him. He breathed in sharply.

"There's more of them." He told her.

"More?"

"Tseng said something about them. They never travel alone. I just can't remember what they're called…" he trailed off, breathing deeply, clutching his arm.

"Oh, shit. We can't! We've got no cure materia!" Rihanna said, almost hysterically.

"Try telling them that…" Reno said, a look of horror suddenly on his face.

Rihanna turned around to see no fewer than 5 of the same creatures closing in on them.

Reno pulled out his EMR again, this time with his right hand. But being mainly-left handed, it was going to make things even more difficult. Rihanna seemed reluctant to use her own EMR and pulled her gun out again.

Reno wasted no time in charging at the monsters, EMR at the ready. He struck one in the head, but his right arm was too weak to deal any serious damage. Rihanna shot at the same one, but these creatures were obviously much more agile than the first one, so she kept missing.

"Don't shoot, use the EMR!" Reno shouted to her. She nodded and pulled out her own EMR, reluctantly making her way to the nearest monster. Seeing Reno's struggle made her more motivated however, so she picked up her pace and began fighting for her life.

Luckily for Rihanna, but not so luckily for Reno, she found herself fighting only one of the monsters. After she was sure that one was dead, she looked over to see how Reno was doing.

It was hard enough fighting one monster with the wrong hand, let alone 4. Reno smacked his EMR as hard as he possibly could into one of their heads, making it stumble backwards, dazed. Reno took this chance to fight as hard as he could against the remaining 3. Luckily for him, he was agile enough to avoid most of their attacks. He looked briefly over to the creature that he had just knocked away, and saw Rihanna fighting it determinedly with her EMR. Reno smiled and turned back to his own battle. Due to his distraction, he wasn't quite prepared to jump back from an attack, and this time, one of them caught his right hand, cutting deep into the skin.

"Oh shit!" Reno shouted. He looked down to see that his hand was bleeding rather badly; possibly worse than his left. Deciding it would probably make no difference; he switched his EMR to his left hand again, and made his way, slightly less energetically, to the monsters.

Rihanna saw how Reno was struggling, even with his EMR in his left hand, and it became clear to her that it would be up to her. Both their lives were in her hands.

The only thing that kept her fighting was the thoughts of what Reno had been through for her this last year or so. He had helped her, saved her life, so now she had to do the same.

By the time there was only one monster left, Reno was unconscious and the monster itself wasn't sure if it should go for Reno while he was down, or try and bring Rihanna down too. Rihanna wasted now time in running for the monster, before it could do any more damage to Reno. Unfortunately, it ducked under her attack, and ran off in the opposite direction. Rihanna was shocked that this one had given up so easily. She collapsed her EMR and ran over to Reno.

"Reno?" she knelt down in the snow beside him, which was now stained blood red. She shook him lightly. No response. Not only were his arms gashed and bloody, one of them had struck him in the face and the stomach. He lay with his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open.

"Reno?" Rihanna wasn't ready for her brother to die…not now. "Please wake up?"

In her desperate attempt to wake him up, she didn't notice the person walk up and stand behind her.

"Maybe I should have let the Turk-boy keep his materia, huh?" Rihanna turned around to see Yuffie standing over her. She smiled grimly.


	7. Nightmare

**Authors note: **Okay, this is a pretty weird chapter. I tore apart one of my older Reno fics that I never finished to make this, it's juts slightly altered. If anyone wants to see the other story (my first EVER fanfic o.o!!) just let me know and I'll finish it as soon as I can. Enjoy

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Chapter 7 - Nightmare

Reno couldn't stand it anymore. The physical pain, he could deal with; being a Turk, well, he wasn't even going to get started on that. But the emotional strain, the thoughts that ran through his head that made his heart tear apart every time. He was loosing his touch with reality. He thought he was finished.

"_You're all I have left now Reno; promise me you'll never leave me? Promise"_

Those words, from that hauntingly beautiful voice. He had not listened.

"_Whatever…."_

"_Reno, why do you never take anything seriously? I am being serious you know. It may have been a long time ago that… Hey! Are you listening to me?"_

His eyes burned in memory of that day. He thought he had put this all behind him now; a new start. But these mixed up memories kept coming back into his mind, every time he let his consciousness slip.

He had made a mistake, along with many others. But this one was different. He had let her down, all he had left of his family. If only he could go back, and listen to her, look after her. She was younger than him and needed his help. Then he left, no goodbye, so he didn't have to see any tears. Another mistake, he had only thought of himself…again. He could see her next to him now, her small, fiery-haired figure staring down on him, as he writhed in every kind of pain.

"_Rihanna?_" he called out in desperation

"_Reno? RENO?"_ she seemed to call back to him, his heart soared. _"RENO! Wake up, please, wake up?"_

* * *

He wasn't sure if he was conscious or not, but where ever he was, he didn't want to be there. As he lay in a dark room, not daring to move, he looked down at himself. He felt sick as he saw the blood flowing from the wounds all over his body. But he was numb, all over, he felt nothing. Struggling to his feet, he began to get nervous. He couldn't see anything, he wasn't sure if he was outside or inside, he wasn't even sure if he was alive or dead. He stepped forward, his footsteps made no noise. He kept going forward, scared or not, he had nowhere to run to.

His surroundings seemed to change as he gained more confidence. It became obvious that he was outside. It was just starting to break dawn over a beautiful garden. He felt happier, more at home. But he still felt no pain. As further ahead of him came into view, He saw an old oak tree, towering over a small rock. He walked towards it, it was a though he was being controlled; he couldn't stop what was happening.

It was a gravestone. One, lonely gravestone. One word was carved into the front of it. "Rihanna".

"_Rihanna?"_ He stopped and realised, he could still feel no pain, physical, or emotional. He knew she wasn't supposed to be dead, but he could feel no sadness for his sister. _"You're dead?"_

"_Who knows? And who cares? Most definitely not you."_ Her ghostly voice pierced him like a blade. It was his lack of emotions at this moment that was getting to him.

"_I do care. Rihanna, please…"_

"_No you don't. You never cared. You wouldn't have left me if you did. I was on my own. Now look at me..."_

"_Rihanna…I didn't know…I thought I would be too late…"_

"_To save me? Or could you not stand to see the truth?"_

"_No! Listen to me! Please?"_

"_Don't even pretend that you cared, you don't even care now. Don't think I don't know Reno…"_

He looked up at her. His own younger sister, towering over him. He wished he could feel the pain, he deserved it. He had left her; she had helped him get back on his feet after the death of their parents. He had taken it harder than her; she was stronger. Her beautiful figure in front of him, her long red hair, her aqua eyes, it made him feel all the more that he should have stuck by her, he owed her so much.

"_You left me Reno, and you're about to leave me again, Reno….Reno?"_

"_Rihanna, you told me…you said it wasn't my fault…you just told me…"_

"_You know it was, Reno."_

"_But you're not dead…you're not. No…I was fighting with you, by your side. How can you be dead now?_

She shrugged her shoulders_. "Since when did you listen to me anyway?" _Her voice was cold. _"Wake up! Just wake up, Reno…"_


	8. Conflict

**Authors note: **update! This is more of a filler chapter...but enjoy anyway!

* * *

Chapter 8 - Conflict

He could feel cold again. The numbness that protected his body from it was now vanishing; but the pain was fast returning to him.

"Reno? Hello?" he heard a distinctly familiar voice and tried to open his eyes. But he couldn't quite gather enough energy to do it; it was a struggle to even breathe.

"I think he's conscious…" a different voice said. That voice…it was so familiar; comforting to him. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Reno!" The girl in front of him smiled. "You've been out for ages…"

"R-Rihanna…?"

"Bad news." A voice came from the corner, Yuffie was standing looking through a bad. "There's no 'cure' materia in here."

"W-what?" Rihanna said, shocked.

"Well, either he didn't bring it in the first place…" Yuffie pointed to Reno's motionless form on the floor. "Or I lost it when I was running from him."

"It's your fault…I ain't stupid enough not to bring it…" Reno said, weakly.

"Shut up, Turk-boy. You should be thankful. I dragged your skinny carcass all the way back to this God-forsaken hut, and you ain't a light as you look." Yuffie lectured him.

Reno looked around him. For the first time, he was fully aware of his surroundings. He was back in the little wooden hut he and Rihanna had entered when they first came here. Back at the beginning.

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Rihanna interrupted their argument. "We need a plan…"

"Well there's no way I'm dragging him any further…" Yuffie said angrily.

"I wouldn't want you to." Reno muttered under his breath.

"I don't expect you to. But I doubt we're gonna be able to go any further…I bet you can't even stand up."

Reno tried to sit up, unsuccessfully. He cringed at the pain that shot through his body upon movement.

"Sit still, idiot. Are you tryin' to hurt yourself?" Yuffie snapped at him.

"Fuck you…"

"Will you two please shut up?" Rihanna said loudly. "Reno? Where's your cell phone?"

"I don't know…"

"Here, you can use mine." Yuffie said, pulling a phone out of her pocket and handing it to her.

"Thanks." Rihanna began dialling.

"Hello?" she said, holding the phone up to her ear. "Tseng, it's me. Yes, sir. Not really…Reno's been badly hurt, I don't think we can go on any further. No…." there was a long pause. "What? Oh no…really? Ok, will do." She hung up and handed the phone back to Yuffie.

"Well?" Yuffie said expectantly.

"We're gonna be stuck here for a long time. They've lost track on us."

"Oh shit…"

There was a very long, very awkward pause. Reno still lay on the floor, Rihanna at his side. She wasn't quite sure if he was conscious or not. Suddenly, Rihanna spoke up.

"Yuffie? What are you doing here anyway?" she asked the young ninja.

"I was with Cloud…"

"Cloud…?"

"Oh right, you don't know him, do you? He's a friend. But we got separated."

"So you're lost too?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Oh."

More silence followed this, and this time it was broken by Reno breaking into a coughing fit. Rihanna, rushed to him as he started coughing. He appeared to be awake, but his eyes were tightly shut as though he were in pain. He put his head up as he carried on coughing, and eventually a red substance trickled out of his mouth.

"Blood?" Rihanna said. "Reno, are you alright?"

He soon stopped coughing and his head landed roughly back on the wooden floor. He was unconscious again.

"You reckon those monsters were poisonous?" said Yuffie, eying the blood Reno had coughed up suspiciously.

"I seriously hope not…" Rihanna replied.


	9. Visitors

**Authors note:** Well, another update. Thanks to everyone whos reviewed so far; your reviews make me happy! Well, anyhoo, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9 - Visitors

Rihanna sat, hugging her knees, trying to ignore the cold. It was now pitch black, and Yuffie had long since fallen asleep. She shivered as she heard the wind blow harder outside.

Just as she had almost managed to drop off, she was brought back down to her senses by a loud bang. As first, she wasn't sure what it was. She sat up and looked around her, her heart beating quickly. It wasn't until she heard it a second time she realised what it was. Someone was banging at the door.

This time Yuffie sat up quickly and looked over to the door. Earlier, she and Rihanna had barricaded the door in case any more monsters were about. Now, someone or something was trying to get in.

"Rihanna?" said Yuffie, frightened.

"Y-yeah?" Rihanna got slowly to her feet, but before she could step towards the door, it was forced open. Yuffie screamed.

"Yuffie?" Two figures had just entered the room. One of them, the one that spoke, stepped forward.

"Tifa!" Yuffie said excitedly. She ran over and hugged the woman that had just walked into the room. She looked shocked, but hugged her back.

"This is Tifa." Yuffie said, pointing to her, "And, that's Cloud." She pointed at the man standing in the doorway. Rihanna smiled awkwardly.

"Have we met before?" Tifa asked; she hadn't noticed Reno.

"Umm, no, I don't think so…" She looked at Cloud standing in the doorway. He was staring hard at Rihanna, trying to figure out where he had seen her before. Then it seemed to come to him.

"Where is he?" Cloud said coldly.

"Huh? Who?" Yuffie asked.

"You know perfectly well who…"

"Reno?" Tifa seemed to have worked it out too. "You're his…?

"Sister, yeah." Rihanna said, looking at the floor.

"Yuffie, c'mon." Cloud motioned towards the door. Yuffie stared at him for a minute, not moving from her spot. The, unexpectedly, she stepped backwards towards Rihanna and put a hand on her shoulder.  
"No." she said defensively. "I'm not going. Reno's hurt, and it's my fault."

Cloud stood there, seemingly shocked. He didn't expect anyone to pick Reno over him, especially not Yuffie. He stared at her for a minute.

"What do you mean…hurt?" he finally said.

Yuffie stared seriously at him and stepped to the side, so that Reno was in full view to both Cloud and Tifa.

"What happened?" said Tifa. "How come neither of you two were hurt?"

"Well, we were…a little." Rihanna held up her arm where one of the monsters had caught her.

"But…"

"Yeah, I know." Yuffie interrupted, "I guess Turk-boy's just unlucky.

"So…" Cloud said quietly, "There's no chance of you leaving without him?" Yuffie shook her head, "You know, there's no way I'm taking him with me…"

Yuffie put her hands on her hips and stared at Cloud, as though waiting for him to surrender without her having to saying anything. Then she sat on the floor next to Reno.

"I'm not going."

"Tifa…?" Cloud turned desperately to the woman beside him.

"Yuffie…I know…you don't want to leave him, but he and his sister came here alone…they were expected to look after themselves." She put a comforting hand on Yuffie's shoulder. Yuffie simply glared at it.

"I don't care. Maybe I want to stay with them anyway." She pouted.

Tifa and Cloud stood before Yuffie, Reno and Rihanna, shocked at her sudden change of attitude…she was stubborn but…maybe she'd been spending too much time around a certain mouthy red-headed Turk.

"Fine." Tifa said. "You know where we are when you change your mind." At that, they both headed back out into the cold, dark night. Yuffie stared after them, equally shocked at how easy they had given in.

"Yuffie?" Rihanna sat down next to her.

"Hmmm?" Yuffie replied distantly. Rihanna smiled at her.

"Thank you."


	10. Close Call

**Authors note:** Okay, okay. Nobody's said it yet, but I think this is moving a wee bit slow. If you don't agree, fine, brilliant. If you do, bare with me, I've been ill lately which is giving me a slight case of writers block.

* * *

Chapter 10 – Close Call

Reno opened one eye. He was sure neither of them had realised he had been awake. He listened but could hear nothing. They must have gone to sleep themselves. It was almost dawn, and Reno could see the light streaming in through the murky window.

"Reno?" he heard Yuffie's voice from the other side of the room. Well, there was no point in pretending to be asleep now, he thought as Yuffie made her way over to him.

"Little help?" he said, in a slightly annoyed voice. He had been lying down for ages now and it was started to get even more painful. Yuffie carefully put her arm around his waist and helped him to sit up. Reno smiled at her. Who would have known she could be so gentle?

"So, how are you?" she said kindly. Reno was shocked; no snide comments, no insults, no threatening. Was she ill? Yuffie looked at him when he didn't answer.

"Well, I refused to go with Cloud, I may as well make the most of being with you two." Reno stared at her even more.  
"What? He was here?" he asked, angrily.

"Yeah, while you were asleep."

"But…why are you here then?"

"Because…I am. Now shut up Turk-boy, before I hurt you even more."

With that she got up and went to wake Rihanna up. Reno stared after her. What was she thinking? She left her friends to be with him and Rihanna. Not only were they hopelessly lost in the middle of the Great Glacier, but Reno and Yuffie had been sworn enemies for…a long time.

"What are you staring at?" Yuffie's voice brought him back down to reality. Rihanna was standing, rubbing her eyes. Reno looked from one to another.

"Just thinking…" he said distantly.

"Does it hurt?" Yuffie said smirking.

"Huh?" Reno was clearly not paying any attention to her at all.

"Never mind." She said, laughing slightly.

"So Reno. How are you today?" Rihanna asked him. Reno wasn't so shocked at his sister asking him so this time he answered.

"I'm alright." Reno said.

"I find that hard to believe. You only came around a while ago."

"Well, I'm good enough to move on, anyway."

"But what if we run into more monsters?" Rihanna said worriedly.

"Don't worry, you got me now." Yuffie's voice came from the corner.

"That's what got me like this in the first place." Reno said, smirking.

"Yeah, well…" Yuffie couldn't come up with a suitable come-back, making Reno smirk again.

"So anyway…" Rihanna interrupted. "What are we doing?"

"Let's go." Reno struggled to his feet. He knew himself that he really wasn't ready. But the boredom of waiting around until he was would probably kill him first. He ignored the twinge of pain that ran through his whole body and smiled. Rihanna looked unsure but she wasn't going to argue. Yuffie looked equally unsure, but she was ready to go too, so she stayed quiet.

* * *

So once again they reached the cave, without any sign of any monsters. Reno tried not to lag behind but it was getting harder and harder. As they walked up the slope that Yuffie had previously led them away from, Reno stopped and tapped the two girls on the shoulder to get their attention. They both turned around simultaneously.

"Give me your gun." Reno said seriously. Confused, Rihanna pulled her gun out and handed it to Reno. He took it and walked cautiously up the slope, gun at the ready. Yuffie and Rihanna watched him look forward with immense concentration, then he fired. Reno handed the gun back and walked further up the slope, Yuffie and Rihanna following him. Right ahead of them was a monster, similar to the one that attacked them yesterday, dead on the floor.

"How…?" Yuffie began. Reno tapped his nose and laughed weakly.

"I'm a Turk." He said, simply.


	11. Escape

**Authors note:** Sorry, i've been trying to put this up for three days now, but the computer kept crashing. I'm really sorry if this chapters not too great, but i have been really really ill lately. I've tried my best and my friends think it's good. I'm going away for summer vacation next week from saturday, but only for a week. I'l try to get in at least one more chapter before I leave for a week. and i'l update as soon as i get back. Enjoy, and please review!

* * *

Chapter 11 – Escape

By the time the sun was setting again, they really hadn't got very far at all. Reno's pace was getting slower and slower and both Rihanna and Yuffie slowed too as to not rush him.

Suddenly, Reno stopped and fell to his knees. Rihanna rushed to him and knelt beside him. He looked at her and got back to his feet again.

"Reno…?" Rihanna asked nervously.

"I'm fine…"he said, put his hand to his head and stumbling slightly. He steadied himself and looked to Rihanna. "Let's keep going."

Rihanna nodded her head and together they carried on their journey. They could tell that Reno was deliberately trying to pick up his pace, but the more he did so, the more he stumbled.

"Does anyone else find this really weird?" Yuffie said suddenly. At first, Rihanna thought she was just looking for an excuse to distract Reno from walking so fast, but the she wasn't so sure.

"What?" she asked.

"We've been walking like, all day, and we've only ran into one monster…"

Rihanna thought about this for a minute and realised she was right. Tseng had told them to come here because of an unusual amount of monster activity. And yet they had only had those two encounters since they got here. And looking around her now, all she could see was the pure white snow.

"I dunno it is kind of weird… Reno?"

In her thoughtful state she hadn't noticed Reno had stopped dead in his tracks staring at the sky.

"Hello?" Yuffie waved her hand in front of his face, but he still didn't respond. Suddenly, he stared straight at Yuffie, a look of terror in his eyes that none of them had seen before. He didn't say a word, but each time Rihanna or Yuffie stepped towards him, he took a step back.

"Okay…Reno, you're scaring me now…" said Rihanna. Reno stared at her, turned around and sprinted as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"Reno!" Rihanna and Yuffie shouted simultaneously. Rihanna began chasing after him, but Yuffie caught hold of her wrist.

"Don't." Yuffie said shaking her head. Rihanna stopped trying to pull away and looked at her. "You saw how fast he ran off. You'll never catch up with him."

"But…" Rihanna protested. Yuffie shook her head again.

"There's no point. We've got a lot more walking to do, so don't waste our energy."

Rihanna looked down at her feet. There were a lot of people she could blame for this; Tseng, for sending them on this mission, which had now turned out to be pointless, was the first person that sprung to mind. She kicked the snow in annoyance.

"What now?" she asked Yuffie, She was suddenly grateful that the young brunette was with her.

"I dunno. This mountain's covered with them little caves; maybe we should find another one of them." Yuffie replied.

"Yeah… okay."

As they walked further up the mountain in silence, Rihanna began to appreciate Yuffie stopping her from, running off. She sighed tiredly and looked at Yuffie, who was looking equally exhausted.

"How high does this mountain go up, anyway?" Rihanna asked.

"I dunno. But it looks like we might be reaching the top now." Yuffie replied.

Rihanna looked ahead of her; the mountain seemed to come to a stop at the cave right ahead of them. Upon reaching the cave entrance, both Rihanna and Yuffie stood on the tips of their toes to look over the ride of snow.

"Wow…" said Rihanna breathlessly.

The scene laid out in front of them was truly spectacular. Night had already closed in on them long ago, and the silver moonlight illuminated the frozen lake ahead of them. It sparkled, almost in a hypnotising way. Rihanna looked over to Yuffie, who was equally entranced by the beautiful view.

"Hey, Yuffie?" she suddenly said. Yuffie looked over to her.

"Yeah?"

"You reckon Reno's okay?"

Yuffie paused for a minute before answering. "Well…he can look after himself and all, but…I don't know, he's not…." She seemed to be struggling for a suitable answer.

"I hope so." Rihanna said vaguely. She desperately tried to get Reno off her mind, but she couldn't. The beautiful sight in front of her only made her worry more. She remembered what he had been like in Sector 5. He had no control, juts like now. She stood there next to her new found friend and prayed with all her heart that Reno was okay.


	12. The Adventure

**Authors note: **Chapter 12 already? This has turned into a song-fic chapter lol (this will probably be the only one). The song is The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves. It wasn't going to be like this, but I was listening to this song as i typed, and I thought it was quite fitting. I'm pleased with this chapter more than the last few, mainly because of the extra time I spent on it. Summer Vacation rules!!

* * *

Chapter 12 – The Adventure 

"_I wanna have the same last dream again, the one where I wake up and I'm alive…"_

It was like none of it had ever happened. Reno looked around him, confused. The moonlight was the only guide he had on the white abyss of freezing snow.

_How did I get here? _

He desperately tried to remember what had just happened for him to get here all alone like this. As he thought, he remembered other things. Things he had shoved to the back of his mind. Rihanna had helped him do it ... Rihanna.

"_Reno, please don't go again. It's dangerous… please."_

_ "Reno, what happened? Did you try to leave?"_

_ "Reno? You okay?"_

_ "Just forget it."_

_ "Reno!?"_

The thoughts running through Reno's head were too much for him to take. All the memories that ran through his head… Good, bad… which ever, they were painful and he desperately wanted to forget… ignorance is bliss.

He stepped forwards, still desperately trying to avoid his conscious mind. He really had no idea where he was. Who was he with? That girl …Yuffie. And Rihanna too… Rihanna.

Whatever he thought about made him remember. His parents, his friends, his sister, Vanessa. The mental torture was too much.

"_I'm the first to know, my dearest friends. Even if your hope has burned with time."_

"How you think Reno's doing?" Yuffie asked, yawning.

"I don't know; I'm so worried about him…" Rihanna replied sadly.

"Yeah, me too. You don't think he's done anything stupid, do you?"

"I don't know. It depends on if he's in the right mind…"

"So, do you think he'll have come around?"

Rihanna looked at her sadly. "I don't know…I just really don't know." She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes and looked at the girl next to her. Yuffie returned the gaze sadly and hugged Rihanna sympathetically.

"I'm sure he'll be alright." She said quietly.

The two girls sat, Rihanna desperately trying to stop her tears. Eventually, she gave up and let them fall. Yuffie listened to them falling on the ice below them. They were sitting inside the cave they had found, trying to keep warm. Yuffie's cell phone had long since stopped working so they couldn't call Tseng. They couldn't even call Cloud. Yuffie was very close to tears herself, yet she didn't actually know why. She shouldn't be sad for Reno; maybe she was sad for Rihanna. Whatever it was, she sat with Rihanna, being slightly more successful at hiding her tears.

"_I cannot live; I can't breathe unless you do this with me."_

It was like a maze, the icy tunnels worming their way through the mountain. Reno stopped and looked around him. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going. Everywhere around him in every direction looked exactly the same. Yet he felt he was being drawn somewhere, like he needed to be somewhere. He just didn't know where that place was. He just kept walking in the dark, oblivious to the dangers that could be lying right ahead of him. Then he saw it; light. Only a little at first, but the further he walked, the brighter it became. He picked up his pace, his footsteps echoing throughout the cave. He stopped as he got the exit and stepped outside. He gasped in amazement at the view ahead of him.

"_Anything that's dead shall be re-grown, and your vicious pain, your warning sign, you will be fine."_

Rihanna jumped out of her sleepy state and shook Yuffie awake.

"Did you just hear something?" she whispered.


	13. Light of Darkness

**Authors note: **Okay, chapter 12 has really inspired me. I will do a real songfic, just not anytime soon. Enjoy!

And thanks to **Ruby**. As an anonymous reviewer, I can't reply to her. I'm glad you like my story!

* * *

Chapter 13 – Light of Darkness

"You think we should go and take a look?" Yuffie whispered. The two girls had sat listening and there was obviously someone, or something, somewhere in the cave. And whoever it was, they were in a hurry.

"Yeah." They both got to their feet and walked forwards cautiously in the direction they had heard the footsteps. After about ten minutes of walking, Yuffie stopped.

"Hang on a sec…" she said. She scratched the back of her head. "We're juts heading back outside aren't we?"

"I don't know…" Rihanna's sense of direction had never been good. "But this is the direction the footsteps came from, right?"

"Yeah, but look…" Yuffie pointed to their left. Rihanna turned and looked. There were two paths, each leading off in opposite directions. There was absolutely no way of telling which way the footsteps had come from.

"So…which way?" Rihanna wondered.

"Umm…I vote that way." Yuffie pointed to the left. Personally Rihanna would have chosen the other way, as it was much lighter, so she would feel much less uncomfortable. But she wasn't in the position to argue.

It was a mystery as to how even the dim light that was guiding them had gotten there. But neither of them were in a hurry to complain about it, so they kept walking. Eventually, they saw light ahead of them and they hurried towards it. What they saw through that archway was really a sight of a lifetime. They hadn't seen anything like it before.

The arch opened up into a huge chamber, which was filled with an eerie light. Hundreds, probably thousands of monsters were standing motionless all around, completely oblivious to anything else other than what was going on in the centre of the chamber.

It was that which caught their attention most. It was a mako fountain, but unlike any they had ever seen before. It was gigantic, and strangely, their was no materia substances anywhere.

"What…?" Rihanna was dumbstruck.

"I dunno…" Yuffie said, in a slightly scared voice. She was eying a monster that was standing less than a few metres away from them, but it, just like all the others completely ignored them.

"You think it was them that we heard earlier?" Yuffie wondered out loud.

"No." Rihanna said confidently, "All these monsters are the same as the ones that attacked me and Reno. Those footsteps; they were too heavy. That was a person."

"Oh…"

"But, this…this must have something to do with why we were sent here."

"Huh? You mean you and Reno?"

"Yeah…unusual monster activity. This looks pretty unusual to me."

"So what do we do?" Yuffie asked.

"I dunno…Reno should be here. He would know." Rihanna looked at her feet. "What do we do…if we can't find him?"

Yuffie took her red-headed friends hand. "We will. Don't worry."

They headed towards the centre of the chamber, the monsters still ignoring them. But before they were half way there, they heard a voice behind them.

"R-Rihanna?" Rihanna turned around sharply to see a very familiar red-head behind her.

"Reno?" She ran over to him, but slowed down the closer she got. "Reno…? Are you okay?"

The man in front of her was not the same one she had walked with yesterday. He looked at her, slightly confusedly. His eyes were glazed as he watched her, and he grinned.

"Umm, Reno?" Rihanna said backing off.

"Rihanna?" Yuffie grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Let's get out of here."

Rihanna pulled her wrist out of Yuffie's grip. "No! I'm not leaving him! Not again!" she screamed.

"Rihanna! C'mon!"

Still none of them monsters had recognised them, even with their raised voices. Reno stood there staring at Rihanna, and then suddenly he fell to his knees, screaming. Rihanna tried to get near him, but he kept lashing out, making it impossible.

"Go away!" he screamed at no-one in particular. "I c-can't take this anymore, just l-leave me … alone." He fell silent and his limp body fell to the floor. Rihanna rushed over to him, tears in her eyes.

What was happening?


	14. Unconscious Memories

**Authors note: **Okay, so I'm updating more than I thought I would before I'm gone for a week. This chapter is soooo much longer than usual!! Thanks so much to all my reviewers; it's all appreciated so much. You will be happy to know that I'm still very far off the end of this, but I can't decide whether to have a happy or sad ending, and if to do another sequel or not. Any opinions?

* * *

Chapter 14 – Unconscious Memories 

In his unconscious mind, that's when Reno remembered things he would have given the world to forget. He had caused so much trouble when he was younger; he knew he shouldn't have done it…

But sometimes, you just have to forget your knowledge of right and wrong, and just go with the flow. He remembered looking up to that woman; her red eyes smiling back down on him. How wrong he had been.

"_Reno! Don't go again…your sister's worried about you…and so am I." He should have listened to his mother. When he went to Vanessa that day, it was the second from last time that he did. He stepped inside the small abandoned building Vanessa had arranged for them to meet in, Vanessa turned around, her red eyes meeting his green ones. They were, for some reason filled with disappointment._

"_You're late."_

"_I know, I had trouble at home…"_

"_Your mother, she doesn't want you to return does she?_

"_No…"  
"And I know, Reno. You're not so sure anymore either."_

_Reno looked at her, trying to hide the fact that she was right. He shook his head._

"_No. I will keep coming."_

"_Only because you have to. I can see you're struggling more than ever." _Reno looked at her. _"With money." She added seeing his confusion._

"_How?"_

"_You've lost weight…again. If you're not careful, you'll end up starving. What use will you be to me then?"_

_Reno looked at her. She was speaking in harsher tones than what she usually did to him, and her eyes were filled with some sort of hatred._

"_Well, we just don't have that much money that's all. None of us can afford to eat properly."_

"_Ah, but your sister, and your parents for that matter; they aren't half-starved like you, are they?"_

"_They're more important than me. Rihanna deserves better…"_

"_Deserves better? Well, you're not as selfish as I thought you were. But, what makes you think she deserves better? Are they better than you?"_

_The taller woman was closing in on him, the look of hatred still in her eyes. She smirked at him._

"_Because they weren't stupid enough to get involved with…you!" Reno shouted and turned to run. This mother was right, this had to stop. Before he could move however, Vanessa had caught hold of his scrawny wrist and pulled him back towards her._

"_Let me go!" Reno screamed, pulling away._

"_I could snap you like a twig, Reno. Be careful in the decisions that you make."_

_She tightened her grip on Reno's wrist, making his eyes water in pain. Just when he thought she was going to snap it, she let go and pushed Reno forwards, making him fall to his knees. He got up, wiping the tears from his eyes, clutching his wrist. It was bruised already, probably broken. _

"_You need to prioritise. What's more important; your life, or their lives. Then we'll see how selfish you really are." _

_Reno turned and ran, ignoring the pain in his wrist, and now in his knees where he had fallen. He ran until he got back to his house, but stopped outside the door. He had been crying, and his mother would ask him until she got it out of him. He peered into the window, making sure no one had seen him and walked off towards the city centre. Living in the Sector 7 slums, it wasn't much of a city centre, but he would blend in a little better with all those people about. A 14 year old boy wondering around alone wasn't unusual to anyone who lived here. Just as he turned the corner into one of the more crowded streets, he heard a voice behind him._

"_Reno?" He turned to see Rihanna behind him._

"_Oh, shit. Rihanna, why are you here?" Reno asked her desperately._

"_I saw you come home, and then you left again. Why?" The sad look in her green eyes was almost too much for Reno to take._

"_It's nothing…"_

"_What happened to your hand?" she asked him. Reno looked at it to see that it had turned almost black and he was unable to move it. _

"_Slipped over." Reno said the first thing that came to his head._

"_It's broken. Why didn't you go in and tell mom. You need someone to have a look at that."_

"_I don't want to worry her. She has enough to think about."_

"_But that's not gonna go unnoticed is it? C'mon, let's go to the hospital now."_

_Reno was too exhausted to argue, and he realised she was right. The nearest hospital, however, was not a pleasant one. Not because it was run-down, being in the slums, in fact, it was quite the opposite. That was the problem; street rats like them. People would look down their noses at them, and whoever dealt with Reno's wrist would probably cause more pain than necessary._

"_Look, I know you're not gonna let me leave it, but lets go in and out as quickly as we can, okay?"_

"_Right."_

_They stepped inside the hospital. They really contrasted to their completely white surroundings with their red hair and dirty black clothes. As soon as they walked in, people began to frown at them. Reno gritted his teeth as they stepped towards the reception desk._

"_Can someone look at my brothers wrist please?" Rihanna said confidently to the woman on the desk. She looked at them._

"_What happened?" she said, quite rudely. Reno didn't say anything because he felt he wasn't able to without shouting some very rude words at this woman. Rihanna, however, replied with the same bright voice she always had._

"_Oh, just an accident. He fell."_

"_Right…" the woman's voice was voice was positively dripping with sarcasm. The whole waiting room had gone silent. Rihanna ignored it and waited patiently for the woman to answer her._

"_You're lucky." She said, "There's no one in A and E. That way." She pointed to the small corridor behind them._

"_Thank you." Rihanna said politely. The sibling headed down the corridor and knocked on the door that said A and E. The man that opened the door looked down at Reno and frowned._

"_How many times have I seen you here this year?" he said nastily. He opened his door so the two of them could go through._

"_Sit." Reno sat on the chair he was pointing to. "What happened this time?"_

_He took hold of Reno's wrist roughly. He hissed in pain._

"_Fell over…"_

"_Of course." He obviously didn't believe him, but he didn't care enough to find out the real reason._

"_It's not broken. Just sprained." He said. His grip on it was uncomfortably tight. _

"_Are you sure? Shouldn't you X-ray it?" Rihanna interrupted._

"_Look, kid, I'm the doctor." He snapped. Then he turned to Reno. "Just go easy on it. You're fine."_

_Reno pulled his wrist out of his grasp and left the room. He knew it was pointless coming here in the first place, all that trouble for nothing. He heard Rihanna's footsteps running up behind him._

"_Reno? I'm sorry." She said when she caught up. "I didn't…"_

"_Yeah, well, it's too late now. People like us just aren't welcome anywhere. The world just wants to kill us off…and sometimes I can't help but think that they're right."_

"_What? You can't mean that!"_

"_Just look at us, Rihanna. We have no place here."_

"_But Reno…we are here. Nobody can change that."_

"_I'm sorry…" Reno said sadly. He picked up his pace and ran away from Rihanna leaving her staring after him.  
"But, Reno, you're all I have left…"_


	15. Realisation

**Authors note: **Okay, this one's a lot shorter than the last one, I don't know why the last one was so long. Anyway, my "one update before I go" has turned into 4 so far. What can I say? I 've got nothing better to do

* * *

Chapter 15 – Realisation

"_You're all I have left…"_

Reno sat up sharply and gasped. Breathing deeply, he convinced himself that what had just happened was a dream. He opened his eyes, next to him was a young girl, kneeling and looking at him with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Reno?" she said, unsurely.

"Yuffie?"

Yuffie sighed in relief. Reno had recognised her, and not tried to attack her or anything. She relaxed and sat down properly next to him.

"Reno? What happened?" Yuffie asked him. He looked at her.

"What?"

"You completely blanked out; you didn't recognise me or Rihanna."

"I…I dunno." He looked around him. "Where is she?"

"She's gone to the outside of the cave to try and get my cell phone to work."

"Oh…"

A long, awkward silence followed where Yuffie sat staring at Reno. Usually he would have snapped at her by now, but he was too preoccupied with his worsening headache to pay any attention to her. Suddenly she broke the silence.

"You know, we were both so worried about you." She said. "We thought we'd lost you."

Reno didn't reply, he couldn't remember anything that had happened. All he could remember was that dream he had, so vivid it felt like he was living it all over again. He looked at his right hand; the one he had broken that day. Because of that arrogant doctor, the bone structure in his wrist was out of place, and his bones cracked every time he moved his wrist. It had done that as long as he could remember, but it was only just then that he remembered why.

Suddenly his attention was caught by his surroundings. He noticed all the monsters surrounding them and his heart skipped a beat.

"Don't worry." Yuffie said, obviously seeing his horror, "They're…well, I dunno actually. For some reason they don't notice that we're here."

"Oh…"

"Kinda like you were actually. Wait a second…" Yuffie paused for a minute, thinking.

"What?" Reno asked.

"Oh…nothing." Yuffie said shaking her head. She looked around. "Rihanna should come back soon. She's been gone a couple of hours already."

"Oh…" he tried to stop his voice shaking, unsuccessfully. His headache was getting steadily worse, affecting his vision. His arm that he was leaning in gave in and he fell back onto his back. Yuffie looked at his, the worry returned to her face.

"Reno?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh it's ok. I thought you'd passed out again…and you have now haven't you?" Yuffie got back onto her knee and waved her hand in front of Reno's face. Sighing at the lack of response, she at back down.

Just as she did so, Rihanna re-entered the chamber, shaking her head.

"I can't get it to work." She said, throwing it to Yuffie. "I really don't know how we're goin' to get out of here."

"Umm, Rihanna listen…"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, I was just wondering…do you kinda think there's a connection between Reno and well…" she pointed to the centre of the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Yuffie was finding it hard to explain herself without sounding stupid, "Reno didn't recognise us before, right? And these monsters; they don't recognise we're here."

"Okay, I see…but why? How can there be a connection?"

"I don't know…there must be some sort of connection between them…" Yuffie thought about it for a minute, then she remembered. "He was attacked, right? By these same monsters. Could that…?"

"Yeah! But…what could that have done to him?"

"I don't know, but there's definitely something odd about these monsters…"


	16. Break The Trance

**Authors note: **5 updates? I really have too much time on my hands; well that's what summer does lol.

**To Jeanneandheralters:** I really have no idea how realisation is spelt, but spell check recognised both of them so...

**To Ruby:** I'm glad you like my idea of Reno's past. I used the whole broken wrist thing from past experience - the exact same thing happened to me, and thanks to that stupid doctor I had to teach myself to be left handed. lol

* * *

Chapter 16 – Break The Trance

"So, what now?"

The two girls sat together next to Reno, trying to keep warm. He hadn't come around since talking to Yuffie, and he was showing no signs of wanting to.

"I don't know." Yuffie said, "But I'm definitely not dragging him any further."

Suddenly, a loud ringing noise made them both jump. Yuffie searched around in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

"So now you decide to work." Yuffie sighed and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Yuffie."

"Oh, Tifa…"

"How are you getting along?"

"Umm fine." Yuffie looked at Rihanna.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but if you see Tseng, tell him…oh shit." She closed the cell phone and threw it at the floor angrily. "No battery."

"Well, hopefully Tifa will have realised what you were trying to say."

"I sure hope so…" Yuffie shivered and hugged her knees tightly. "So, any ideas about him yet?" she pointed to Reno.

"I don't know. What is that thing?" Rihanna looked over to the centre of the chamber.

"Haven't you ever seen one before? It's a mako fountain. But there's usually materia around…it's kinda strange that there isn't."

"Shall we go take a closer look?" Rihanna asked. Yuffie looked over at Reno reluctantly, but then nodded her head.  
"Yeah."

They made their way cautiously to the centre of the room, the brightness of the mako fountain was slightly blinding. Rihanna was simply awestruck upon reaching it at the beauty of the fountain.

"What's this?" Yuffie said to no-one in particular. She stepped closer toward the fountain, where some of the material was condensing together. She poked it.

"It's solid…like materia, but it's not." She snapped a bit of and looked at it. Suddenly, Rihanna tapped her on the shoulder.

"Umm, Yuffie?"

Yuffie turned around and screamed. Snapping of that piece of condensed mako had made one of the monsters nearest to them come out of its trance and was closing in on them. Rihanna searched her pockets and then looked at Yuffie in horror. They had both left their weapons over by Reno.

"W-what now?" Yuffie said shakily, Rihanna shook her head and looked at her feet, her muscled tensed ready for the attack. Yuffie shut her eyes tightly and waited for death.

But it never came. They heard a loud bang, but Yuffie still didn't dare to open her eyes. It wasn't until Rihanna cried out that she opened one eye and squinted to see what had happened.

"Reno!" Rihanna shouted excitedly. The red-head in question was standing opposite them, Rihanna's gun in his hand, looking at the monster; now dead on the ground. He smiled weakly and turned to Yuffie. She pocketed the little bit of condensed mako that she had broke off and ran towards Reno.

"Reno! You're alright!" Rihanna said, hugging him tightly.

"Hey! I won't be if you don't lemme go." Rihanna let go of her older brother and looked up at him.

"You have no idea how worried I've been…"

"Sorry… I kinda lack control of situations like this." Reno said.

"Oh...I didn't mean it like that…" Rihanna said quietly.

"I'm just messin' with ya." Reno said, tapping her on the shoulder. Yuffie took the colorful shard from her pocket and looked at it. The way the different colors caught the light was captivating. Did this have something to do with the state Reno was in? What was it anyway? Because it definitely wasn't real materia…or at least, not like any she had ever seen before.

* * *

**A/N **: I just realised after writing this, this is the first real line Reno's had for ages lol. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Authors note: **Okay, so i'm back from the most annoying vacation ever, and what's the first thing i do? write of course. it took me a while because i couldn't get back into it (and i spent too much time at the superbowl so my wrist is killing me) and i'm sorry about the terrible cut off point, it really doesn't fit properly, i know. and i couldnt think of a name for the chapter...all that aside, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 17

"So what the hell is this place anyway?" Reno asked as he stepped towards the centre of the chamber. Rihanna smiled, it was so nice to have Reno back with them, nearly back to his old self.

"Not a clue." Yuffie told him, "But I broke this little bit off that fountain."

She took the colorful shard out of her pocket and handed it to Reno. He held it to the light and stared at it squinting slightly.

"What is it?" Rihanna asked.

"No idea." Reno said, putting it back into his own pocket. "But we really need to get out of here…" He took his gun out and shot somewhere behind Rihanna, making her jump. She turned around to see another monster dead on the floor, and a few more starting to become aware of their presence. Reno grabbed her hand.

"Let's go…" he said, pulling her forwards. Rihanna looked at him and began to run. The two reached the mouth of the cave and climbed up above it, seemingly out of reach.

"Where…where's Yuffie?" Rihanna gasped.

"Oh shi…" Reno looked around him; Yuffie was nowhere in sight. "Oh crap, where the hell is she?"

"Never knew you cared…" Reno jumped and turned around to see the young ninja in question standing with her arms folded.

"I hate you." Reno said simply, jumping back down by the cave entrance and peering inside.

"Reno, careful." Rihanna said worriedly.

"Ahh don't worry, they ain't coming out. So which way do we need to go to get outta this dump?"

"I don't know. That way?" Rihanna suggested, pointing to the pathway to the left of them. Reno walked towards the bottom of it and shook his head.

"Nah, that's just leadin' around. We need to go down."

"When did you get these amazing navigational skills?" Yuffie said.

"Always had 'em, sweetheart." Reno said smirking.  
"Yeah right. May I make a suggestion?"

"Fire away."

"How about going back down the way we came up?" Yuffie sighed, "Just a wild suggestion completely from the top of my head…"

"Yeah, alright. No need to completely take the piss." Reno said, starting to walk down the slope.

"Wait up." Yuffie shouted running after him, Rihanna followed.

* * *

For a man that had spent the last 48 hours in and out of consciousness, his pace was extremely hard for Yuffie and Rihanna to keep up with. Both of them were exhausted, yet Reno wasn't showing any signs of even slowing down, let alone stopping.

"Reno…" Yuffie said, panting for breath, "Can we stop for a minute?"

"You wanna get out of here or what? Shut up and keep walking." He snapped.

"Sorry…can you at least slow down?"

Reno turned around and glared at her. Yuffie didn't need words to tell her what the answer was.

* * *

"Reno…seriously, I can't walk anymore." Yuffie said after about an hour of walking at Reno's pace. Reno suddenly stopped, making her run into the back of him.

"Fine." He said, "We'll stop." He sat down on the floor heavily, Yuffie followed suit, except much more lightly.

"Are you okay?" Rihanna asked Reno. He was breathing heavily and there was sweat on his brow. He was his hand through his hair, which was also saturated with sweat.

"Yeah…why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason. You're just acting funny." Suddenly a thought jumped to her mind. "Yuffie where's that stuff you broke off the mako fountain?"

"Reno's got it." Yuffie said, pointing to his pocket.


	18. Journey

**A/N:** Okay this one's probably a little too short, but nevermind. I always think to myself "right, I'm gonna make this chapter longer," and this is the result. XD anyway...

I wanna thank all my reviewers (again) lol, if it weren't for you, i wouldn't be writing this now!  
Thanks Ruby, i can't reply to your reviews because you're annonomous (yeah i cant spell) Glad you're enjoying the story!

* * *

Chapter 18 - Journey

Reno took the shard out of his pocket and handed it to Rihanna. She looked at it closely.

"What the hell is this stuff?" she said quietly.

"I dunno, but it's dangerous. Get rid of it." Reno said. He had fallen backwards, supporting his whole weight with one hand, and resting his forehead in the other.

"We can't. This is the whole point in coming here. I'm sure of it." Rihanna said confidently. "Are you okay?"

Reno looked up and blinked several times. "Yeah, I am now."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. Can we carry on walkin' now?"

"No…Reno!" Yuffie piped up in a whiny voice. "We only just stopped. I'm tired…"

"Yeah well, I'm tired, am recovering from near fatal injuries and haven't had anything to eat for three days, but you don't see me complaining do ya?" Reno snapped.

"Yeah but…"

"God, do you ever shut up?" Reno said rolling his eyes.

"Both of you shut up." Rihanna interrupted. "We need to get out of here, I know Reno, but we can't keep walking forever. We will get out of here, juts be patient."

"Yeah…right." Reno pouted and crossed his arms.

* * *

"Can we go now?" Reno said. Boredom was really starting to take a hold of him as he sat flicking bits of ice at Yuffie.

"Yes. We can." Yuffie said angrily, brushing the ice off her. The three all got to their feet.

"You are really immature, you know that?" Rihanna said as she walked past Reno.

* * *

"Now this is more like it!" Yuffie said excitedly. They had reached the small wooden cabin at the bottom of the mountain. Rihanna looked at Reno; Yuffie didn't seem to have noticed it, but his pace had slowed a lot on their way down.

"You okay Reno?" she asked him gently.

"Yeah…just really tired…" he said vaguely.

"Yuffie?" Rihanna said loudly, catching the attention of the hyperactive ninja. Yuffie looked over as Rihanna pointed to the cabin. Yuffie nodded and headed off in that general direction.

"C'mon Reno." Rihanna said, taking his hand and following Yuffie.

* * *

"Is he asleep?" Yuffie asked.

"I think so…" Rihanna waved her hand in front of Reno's face, and satisfied at the lack of response, looked at Yuffie.  
"So, how well do know Reno?" Rihanna asked her. Yuffie was slightly taken aback at the randomness of the question, but answered anyway.

"Not that well…I thought he was, well… words can't describe. But then he saved me from Don Corneo…"

"Don Corneo?"

"You don't even want to know…"

"So he saved you?"  
"Yeah…but not because he cared about me." She looked down sadly. "Elena had been kidnapped too. That's the only reason."

"I'm sure he does care about you…" Rihanna was shocked at Yuffie sudden mood swing. "He just…shows it in different ways to most people…"

"Yeah, I guess." Yuffie looked sadly over at Reno, ignoring the stinging in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Rihanna asked.

"Yeah…"

"You know, he does care. I just remembered; when we were in that cave, he was panic-stricken when you didn't come out with us…"

"He was…worried?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…" Yuffie smiled to herself.

"Why?" Rihanna asked, looking Yuffie directly in the eye, "Have you taken a liking to my brother?"

"W-what? No! Of course not…" Yuffie said defensively. Rihanna smirked at Yuffie blushing face.

"It's that look that makes me hate the fact that you're his sister." Yuffie said bluntly.


	19. Joining

**A/N: READ IT!!! **So this is why the last chapter was so short: because this is a flashback, and it would probably be too long if I put it on the end of the last chapter. Well, yeah, Reno's flashback – had a few of these now, hasn't he? This one may seem a bit pointless right now, but it is relevant. And also, please remember that this is an AU fic, and everything in this chapter didn't happen, because of the time that Reno joined the Turks.

* * *

Chapter 19 – Joining

Reno ran through the back alleys of the Sector 7 slums, not sure of where he was going. At the moment, he wasn't sure of anything – not sure what had just happened; not sure why these two men were chasing him…He only thought of one thing: he needed to get away from them. He cleared a barbed wire fence, cursing loudly as he caught his ankle on the top of it. He looked briefly behind him, to see the two people catching up with him. He ran around the corner, unsure of how much longer he could keep running like that. Suddenly he spotted a small grate below him, probably leading to one the shops' cellars or something. It was small, but Reno, being deprived of decent meals most of his life, squeezed through fairly easily. Unfortunately, the two men saw him do it.

"Damn. That kid's skinny." Exclaimed one of them.

"He's from the slums, they usually are." Another, deeper voice said.

"Well, there's no way we can get through there…"

"Yeah, and no sense in scaring the poor kid. We'll leave him."

"Yeah, let's go back to report to Tseng."

Reno let out a sigh of relief as he heard the two men's footsteps getting quieter and quieter as they moved away. He had perhaps over-estimated the size of that grate, or at least his ribs told him that. He lifted up his pant leg to see the damage the barbed fence had done: a large gash down his leg.

_Great,_ he thought to himself, _I have all the luck, don't I?_

He couldn't bring himself to go up and explain to whoever was above him what had happened. Being a slum rat, he would just be accused of thievery.

He put his head back, thinking. It was times like this when he really got wondering about his life. If this was what it was like now, what was it going to come to when he grew up properly? People like him weren't important, they were just there to fill out the population, and make news. It was sick, it really was…

Reno was brought out of his reminiscence by the sound of loud voices. He had no idea how long he had been down here, but now there was someone coming down the stairs. Reno shrunk back into the shadows, waiting to be discovered.

"Good evening, Reno." A man stepped in front of Reno. He was tall, with black hair, and dark grey eyes. He was the kind of man whose general aura just said "authority".

"Two of my men had trouble catching you earlier, it seems you have misunderstood the circumstances."

Reno stared at the man, unsure of what to say.

"Ahh, forgive me. My name is Tseng, and I am head of a group called the Turks. We weren't trying to catch you to hurt you, Reno. We want you to join us."

"J-join you?"

"Yes. You see, we've been watching you for quite a while now, and … well, you really know how to handle yourself. And mainly, it's your determination. It's your determination that will get you far as a Turk."

"Determination?"  
"Yes. Keep that, and you'll never go wrong.

* * *

"_It's your determination that will get you far as a Turk."_

Reno sat up sharply. When he fallen asleep, and more importantly, what was he doing asleep in the first place?

"Reno? You're awake." He looked over to see Rihanna smiling at her. He was doing it again; failing her.

**

* * *

**Okay, and once again, this really isn't as long as what I wanted it to be. I'm really sorry for that, but I will update regularly. If the ending is kinda confusing for you, don't worry, it will become clear very soon. 


	20. No Change

**A/N:** YAY!! I finally did it!! This chapter is nearly 1000 words long!! Maybe it's coz I'm happier - it's my birthday in 2 days! But anymoo, this chapter could do one of three things : 1) Make things a little clearer for you, 2) Make you even more confused and think "what the hell is she going on about?" 3) A combination of the two...I hope it's 1!! Enjoy and review!

Also, despite the fact that this fic is no where near finshed, I'm starting to think of an ending, so I would like all of your opinions. I can either do a happy ending, and then a sequel at some point, or a sad ending and no sequel...please tell me what you want to see!!

* * *

Chapter 20 – No Change

"Reno, what's the matter?" Rihanna asked curiously. Reno didn't look at her, but shook his head.

"I'm sorry…" is all he said. Rihanna put her arms around him.

"Reno, I know it's hard, but you need to be strong…for me?" Rihanna said pleadingly.

"I'm really sorry…" his voice was shaking. He shook his head again and looked over to Yuffie. To his surprise she smiled and then blushed.

"What?" Reno asked.

"Nothing." Yuffie said, shaking her head. Rihanna laughed lightly, confusing Reno even more.

"Don't worry, Reno." She said happily.

"What the…? Okay, let's go."  
Reno had just realised what he was doing; again. He stood up and brushed the dust from his jacket.

"Coming?" he said, smirking.

"Y-yeah." Yuffie said shakily. Reno shook his head, what the hell was up with that girl?

* * *

"So, which direction to civilization?" Reno said casually. He had cheered up remarkably now that they were heading into a slightly warmer climate.

"Err, if we head south, we should end up in Bone Village." Yuffie suggested.

"I said civilization…" Reno smirked.

"Shut up, Reno." Rihanna said. "All we need is somewhere where we can contact Tseng from and we'll be fine. Bone Village will do nicely."

"Yeah? Do have any idea how long we'll have to walk to get there?" Reno said desperately. "It's miles."

"Yeah, and it's still the nearest place to here. And it's warmer." Yuffie said irritably.

"Yeah, whatever. We'd better get going then."

* * *

"Oh ... my... god…this is so boring…" Reno complained.

"Well what do you expect?" Rihanna said breathlessly. 2 hours of walking had tired her out considerably.

"I dunno…but it's still boring…and I'm starving…"

"Sorry, no food left on me. I wasn't planning on being here so long." Rihanna sighed.

"I don't think any of us were…" Reno said thoughtfully; it was his fault they had been there so long, if he had have stayed focused the whole time…

_Determination…_

He was trying, he really was. But it was harder and harder by the second to keep going. If it wasn't for Rihanna, he would just give up right now. He knew that wasn't the right attitude to take, he had been given a job to do, and he had to do it no matter what…but he couldn't help feeling that Rihanna was really the only thing left keeping him going.

_But maybe it's not just Rihanna anymore…_

Reno looked across at Yuffie. The usually hyperactive ninja was silent as she put all her efforts into the journey ahead of them. She brushed her dark hair out of her face, and looked back at Reno. Although she was plainly exhausted, her brown eyes were filled with happiness as she smiled at him. Reno broke his gaze away from her and looked ahead of him…it was going to be a long journey…

* * *

Sometimes exhaustion can get to a point where you're that tired you find yourself falling asleep while you're walking. Reno forced his eyes back open for what felt like the millionth time, and looked at Rihanna. He wanted to stop, but he wouldn't, as long as she kept going, he would too.

"Anyone know how much further we have to go?" Reno said, his speech surprisingly slurred.

"A long way." Rihanna replied, sounding just as exhausted. "If you want to stop, Reno, just say…"  
"No, I'm fine…." Suddenly he fell to one knee as a sharp pain shot through his stomach. Exhaustion was one thing, but this amount of pain was just too much. Rihanna rushed to his side.

"Are you okay?" she said worriedly, putting her hand on his back. Reno nodded his head. He just hadn't expected it; that was all. After all, he had acquired that wound quite a few days ago now, so for it to start hurting again now was unexpected.

"C'mon." Yuffie said, "Let's find somewhere to stop."

* * *

Finding somewhere suitable to rest on a practically deserted island was just as difficult as you might expect, but they stopped on the edge of a small forest, where a few trees provided shelter from the weather. Reno went to sit down against one of the trees, but hissed in pain as he felt something stab into his leg. Putting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out the little piece of the mako-like substance. Funny, he hadn't remembered putting it back in his pocket, and he was almost certain it had changed color. Then he had an idea…

"Yuffie? Look after this will you?" He handed it over to her, smiling. She took, although slightly reluctantly and put it in her pocket. Reno watched as the expression on her face changed slightly and she sighed.

"This sucks." She said. "Is there no other way to get there?"

"Nope. Sorry Yuffie." Rihanna said, "It's not that bad, at least it's not cold…"

"Yeah, but it's boring. I'm used to always having stuff to do, like fighting."

"I'll fight ya." Reno said, grinning evilly. Yuffie shook her head looking slightly taken aback. "Fine. I know where I'm not wanted."

"Keep looking Turk-boy, you won't find anywhere."

Reno shook his head. His suspicions were obviously wrong, as Yuffie was still acting exactly the same. He felt different though, like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders, despite it only being one little crystal-like object. Why was this only affecting him?


	21. Suspicions

**Authors note: **I dunno what the deal is with my chapters being a bot longer now, but it's not a bad thing i guess. I got half way through reading this and i thought "this is such a pointless chapter" but I tried to give a little bit more meaning. Some of you may not see it, but I tried my best. Enjoy!

And thanks to all of you who wished me a Happy Birthday!

* * *

Chapter 21 – Suspicions

The journey seemed to move a lot slower after they set off again. Perhaps it was just because they had been resting, and none of particularly felt like picking the pace up.

"I don't think it's much further now." Yuffie said, exhausted. None of them had spoke much while they were walking, so this was the first thing that had been said in about 2 hours. Reno couldn't bring himself to waste his energy on a reply, but it was obvious to the other two what was running through his head anyway. The pain in his stomach had gradually gotten worse, and he was fighting with himself as to not collapse in a heap and refuse to get up.

"I think I can see it!" Rihanna said, excited. She pointed ahead of them were Reno could see a collection of small houses and a forest.

"That's it alright." Yuffie replied, equally excited.

"Thank God…" Reno mutter, not caring if either of them heard him or not.

* * *

It certainly wasn't a significant village, but it was somewhere to rest, and hopefully to contact Tseng. The three friends stepped through the entrance to the village, looking for someone to talk to about a place to rest.

"Excuse me?" Rihanna said politely to a nearby woman. She had short grey hair and wore a long purple dress. "We just came from up north, is there anywhere we can stay to rest?"

"Oh, you all must be exhausted." She said kindly, thankfully not realising two of them were Turks. "Just go and ask in there…" she pointed to a small building to the left of them.

"Thanks." Yuffie said casually.

"No problem dear, always happy to help."

Yuffie and Rihanna headed off towards the building, but Reno dragged behind, staring back at the woman. He didn't know why, but he saw straight through the woman's false smile, and didn't trust her at all. Trying to ignore this fact, he followed the two girls into the building.

"Are you with those two girls?" The man inside the building said. "The red-head and the brunette?" Reno nodded his head, "They're upstairs, first door on the left. They've already paid for a room…"

"Thanks…." Reno said vaguely and walked up the stairs.

* * *

"There you are Reno!" Yuffie said excitedly when he entered the room, "What took you so long?"

"Did nobody else notice anything strange about that woman?" he said, exhaustedly.

"Yeah, she was first human we've seen in nearly a week." Rihanna said, grinning.

"Never mind…" Reno said, collapsing on one of the beds.

"Reno?" Yuffie wondered out loud. He gave no response.

"I think he's just … passed out …" Rihanna said, still smiling.

"Well, he's the idiot who wanted to walk so fast…" Yuffie said matter-of-factly.

"What do we do now, anyway?"

"Well, we need to contact someone… whether it's Tifa or Tseng, it doesn't really matter."

Rihanna looked over to Reno's sleeping form, thoughtfully. "You think he'll be alright if we leave him?"

"Yeah, sure…he's only sleeping. The faster we find a phone, the faster we can get out of here."

"Okay then." The two girls got up to leave, leaving Reno still asleep.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Rihanna said politely to the man at the hotel's reception. "Do you have a phone we can use?"

"Phone? What for?"

"To call our … friend. We've been stranded out here a few days you see, so we need him to come and pick us up…"

"Where's that other red-head you were with?"  
"Upstairs still…" Rihanna said, puzzled. What was with all the questions?

"Not that it actually has anything to do with you…" Yuffie muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing…" she said, smiling.

"Hmmm…here. Don't be long…" he said, handing Rihanna a cell phone. Rihanna smiled and dialled the number, trying to ignore the man who would not take his eyes off her.

"Hello?" Rihanna said, having the sense not to say her bosses name out loud.

"Rihanna, is that you?" It was a relief to hear Tseng's voice again.

"Yeah…listen…we've done all we can, now we really need to get out of here…"

"You found the cause of the monster problem?"

"Yeah, we think so… but Reno's hurt anyway… and we're not even on the Great Glacier any more."

"Where are you?"

"Bone Village."

"….Okay, I think I can manage to send someone out to pick you up…I don't know who it will be though…and by the way, Tifa said something about Yuffie…?"

"Oh, we'll explain when we get back… I have to go…" Rihanna glared at the man next to him when he sighed impatiently for the fifth time.

"Okay, we'll get you as soon as we can."

"Thanks."  
Rihanna handed the phone back to the man and thanked him, although slightly coldly. She smiled at Yuffie and the two headed back upstairs.


	22. The RevengeTakers

**Authors note: **oooh chapter 22, I never thought it would be this long -- but good news anyway:

First off, there is definately going to be a sequel, called **Crash and Burn, Baby **and I know what's gonna happen and everything!! this time it really is going to have more humour in it, but still the same hurt/comfort theme that i always have. Check out my profille for more information...

Second, I'm half-way through a picture of Reno and Rihanna, which i will put on as soon as it's done and link it back here, hope you will all love it

* * *

**Chapter 22 – The Revenge-Takers**

Somewhere deep in the Sector 5 slums, a woman snapped her cell phone shut.

"They arrived earlier this evening." She said to a man standing to her left. "But we have run into a problem…."

"What is it?" The man replied.

"Someone has joined them. Yuffie Kisaragi – the girl who's friends with Cloud."

"Hmm… this could create problems …we don't want any unnecessary fighting." The man paused for a moment, lost in thought.

"I say….we just ignore her – if she gets in our way, she will be taken care of."

The man laughed lightly, "You know how to deal with things, don't you? You will make a good leader..."

"There's no point in treading around the inevitable."

"Hmph, that's what she always said… so what are you going to do?"

"We will go ahead as planned …we cannot let the Turks get away, not again." She swung her head around and ran her hand through her black hair, "Tell them to get on with it." She finished and left the room.

"Hmph, you will get yours, Reno…" the man said, smirking. He pulled out a cell phone and dialled…

* * *

"Reno? You awake?" Rihanna shook her brother in hope of some sort of response.

"Hmmm…." Reno groaned.

"I think you were right about that woman… we have to get out of here." She said urgently.

"What!" Yuffie cried, "What… we can't…"

"I know I didn't tell you… but Reno is right. Are you up for it?" she looked at Reno.

"Yeah, OK." He struggled to sit up and looked at Yuffie, confused.

Let's go then?" Rihanna said, looking expectantly at Yuffie.

"Yeah OK."

Rihanna stepped forwards and put her hand on the door handle, stopping suddenly.

"We've been locked in." she said, in a slightly scared voice. She looked over at Reno, who shook his head.

"Move out the way… and have your weapons ready…" Reno pulled out his EMR and kicked as hard as he could at the door, which promptly swung open. He turned to look smugly at the two girls behind him.  
"Well, who'd have known such a scrawny guy could have so much strength behind him?" Yuffie said, smiling innocently. Reno shook his head and looked ahead of him – everything looked clear.

"C'mon." he said, motioning for them to follow him. The three walked slowly toward the exit until Reno put his hand up to stop them. They could see the man Rihanna had borrowed the cell phone off, fidgeting with something under the table.

"Wait here…" Reno whispered, and he stepped forwards in clear view of the man. Yuffie and Rihanna listened.

"Alright?" Reno said in a false cheery voice. The man looked at him, obviously surprised that he had managed to get out of the room.

"What do you want?" he said distractedly.

"You know …" Reno leaned forwards, "If you're planning to do something to us… you could at least make it a little less obvious."

The man lookup up directly into Reno's face – Reno smiled and smacked the man as hard as he could in the side of the head with his EMR, smirking. The man faltered for a minute, then got to his feet bringing his fist backwards, trying to hit Reno. He dodged it easily. Whoever the man was, he was no stranger to combat, but despite his strength, he was nowhere near as quick on his feet as Reno.

Rihanna watched from the shadows, shocked. Why was Reno voluntarily fighting alone? She knew this was pushing him to his limits, but she didn't know what to do, should she fight, or leave Reno alone?

Fortunately, Reno was winning this battle, as his EMR collided with the side of the man's face. He stumbled backwards, but was showing no signs of stopping.

"Reno! Materia!" Yuffie shouted, Rihanna looked at her and she shot her an apologetic look. Reno nodded and held out is left arm, the man screamed as a

powerful bolt of lightening surged through his body, and he keeled over; unconscious.

"You okay, Reno?" Rihanna asked him urgently, "I'm so sorry, I should have helped…"

"No… I wanted you to stay safe… what do these guys want?"

"I don't know, but there's going to be more of them, that's for sure." Rihanna said, "We need to get out of here as soon as possible…"

"But then how are they gonna find us?" Yuffie asked.

"I don't know… we'll just have to keep and eye out for them, there's nowhere else for us to go…is there?"

"There is a forest up north… The Sleeping Forest I think…" Yuffie said reluctantly, "Only it's impossible to find your way through it… it leads back up the Great Glacier eventually."

"Well, we'll go there then, there's less chance of us being followed." Rihanna said confidently, "C'mon."


	23. Mistaken

**A/N: **Well I realised when I was writing this that I would have to do a sequel anyway, otherwise this story would end up stupidly long. But it's all going to fit together really well, trust me lol.

I finished my Reno and Rihanna picture, if you have an account on comment would be appreciated!

http://reno-xxxxxxxxx. size=1 width=100% noshade>

Chapter 23 - Mistaken

As the three stepped outside, they were slightly unnerved by the strange silence that surrounded them. Then they saw her, the woman who Reno had suspected earlier. She was holding a grey wig in her hand, revealing short blonde hair, and she was talking on a cell phone.

"Stay here again." Reno whispered. He walked casually up to the woman, obviously trying a different approach this time.

"Hey." He said, in a slightly husky voice.

"Hi…" the woman replied, unsure of what to say, "Can I help you?"

"Hmph…" Reno nearly laughed out loud, "That depends…" he smirked. "You gotta name?"

"Celena…"

"Ohh, what a pretty name… Reno." He said holding out his hand. The woman looked up at him, seemingly looking at his hair.

"Hold on a minute…" she scowled at him. Reno laughed to himself and pulled out his EMR.

"Caught on?" he said, laughing. He wasted no time this time in striking her down with a powerful lightening spell. "That was easy…" he said shrugging.

"How do you do that?" Yuffie asked as they caught up with him.

"What?"

"She just told you her name… just like that."

"Charm, sweetheart, it's called charm." He said, still smirking.

"Hmph, yeah right." Yuffie said, Rihanna smiled at her.

"Damn, I'd forgotten how annoying this place is." Reno said, irritably.

"Yeah, that's why the whole point was to not go in too far…" Yuffie told him, "If we go in too far, we're not going to able to see a thing… when we're gonna be picked up."

"Yeah, alright. We'll stay here then." Reno stopped abruptly.

* * *

"Goddammit… hurry up!" Reno said, kicking the floor. "This is so boring!"

"Reno, shut up a minute…" Yuffie said seriously. She seemed to be listening out for something. "Did anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" Rihanna asked, also listening carefully.

"I dunno… just listen." She replied urgently. The three of them listened and after about 5 minutes Reno broke the silence.

"Aww c'mon Yuffie, you're kidding right? Wouldn't be the first time you'd lead us on…"

"No seriously Reno… shut it. I am being serious…"

"OK then… I'll prove it to you." Reno said matter-of-factly, he stepped forwards and headed further into the trees.

"Reno… be careful…" Rihanna said loudly. They watched as Reno made his way across the broken branches and dead leaves, out of sight. They waited tensely for him to come back, but they heard and saw nothing. Just as Yuffie was about to go after him, they heard a loud scream and footsteps crunching across the leaf litter.

"Reno!?" Rihanna shouted, then they saw him approach, his face was white and he was breathing heavily. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" he panted, "I'm fine…"

"What the hell happened?" Yuffie asked.

"Nothing, everything's fine."

"No it's not, tell us…" Rihanna demanded.

"She… it was her…" Reno said breathlessly, he shook his head as how stupid he sounded.  
"Who?" Yuffie asked.

"Vanessa…"

"Reno? It can't be her… she's dead, we killed her, remember?" Rihanna said, puzzled.

"Vanessa..?" Yuffie butted in.

"It's a long story… Reno, calm down, okay? It's just your imagination." Rihanna put her hand on her brothers back.

"No, I'm not kidding, it was her…"

"It can't be…"

Everything fell silent as they heard rustling in the bushes… suddenly a young woman stepped out in full view, her blond hair falling into her eyes and her brown eyes twinkling with confusion.

"Elena?" Rihanna let out a sigh of relief.

"Reno, what the hell?" Elena approached the red-head cautiously. He stared at her, apparently not recognising his fellow Turk.

"Go away…" he said breathlessly.

"Is he hyperventilating?" Yuffie said, looking at Reno, "You're not that scary are you?" she looked over to Elena who shrugged her shoulders.

"Reno, just calm down. Tseng sent me and Rude to come and get you… He's waiting in the helicopter." Reno seemed to ignore her, and every step she took towards him he took a step backwards.

"Oh for the love of…" Elena sighed and started searching around in her pocket, pulling some materia. Rolling her eyes, she raised her hand and Reno instantaneously collapsed on the floor.

"There." She said, satisfied that Reno was unconscious. "That should make things easier for us."

"Why the hell is he acting so strangely?" Yuffie said, looking at his unconscious form. She pulled out the materia-type substance that was in her pocket, it seemed to have changed color again, and it was slightly warm. "What the…?"

"I have no idea…" Rihanna said, "We'll sort it out when we get back, we just need to get out of here."

Elena nodded, and she and Rihanna lifted Reno up and began to carry him back to the helicopter.

* * *

"Damn it." The black-haired woman slammed her fist on the desk. "This isn't working as we planned."

"Calm down, the materia didn't work. So we need to find another way…"

"A direct attack on the Turks would be foolish… it would draw too much attention to us."

The man smiled. "Who said anything about a direct attack? All we have to do is lead Reno away again. It can't be that difficult…"

"He is gullible… but we need something to lead him off with Rihanna again. After all, both of them need destroying." She frowned. "But what….?"

"I think…" the man smirked, "I have an idea… but it involves gaining the trust of a few people…"


	24. Report

**A/N: **Sorry about this, i got a little confused and thought i'd already put this chapter up, but i hadn't. Hope you enjoy anyway XD It may bit a obvios, but this is coming to and end now, one possibly two more chapters left. Im starting to think more about the sequel

* * *

**Chapter 24 – Report**

Reno opened his eyes slowly so that sunlight slowly flooded his vision. The first thing he noticed was somebody had a tight grip on both his arms.

"What?" He groaned. His vision became slightly clearer and he looked to see Yuffie one side of him and Rihanna the other, both of them holding his arms. They looked at him, tensing slightly as they saw him wake up.  
"Reno?" came a voice from in front of him.

"E-Elena?"

"Oh, so you do recognise me?" she said quietly.

"Huh?"  
"You went crazy, Reno." Rihanna said as she and Yuffie loosened their grip on his arms.

"I did?"

"Yeah." Yuffie added, "You lashed out at us and Elena had to put you to sleep."

Reno didn't reply, but looked around him, he only just noticed his surroundings; a helicopter. He sighed, relieved. They were finally getting out of there; it was over. He let his eyes close again and he passed out; probably from exhaustion.

* * *

"So what did you find?" Tseng asked the red-headed girl sitting in front of him. Reno was still at his apartment, resting. 

"This." She took the materia-like substance that Yuffie had given her earlier out of her pocket and handed it to Tseng. He looked at it, turning it over in his hands.  
"What is it?" Rihanna asked him after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm not sure, I would say materia, but this is unlike any I have seen before…"

"Yeah that's what we thought…."

"So, what happened while you were there?" Tseng said, rummaging through a draw in his file cabinet.

"Well… we were attacked by some sort of monster." She began. Tseng listened to her intently. "Reno got hurt by one of them… and then he started acting funny…"

"What did the monsters look like?"

"I dunno, sort of dog-like."

"Like this?" he pulled a file out of the cabinet and showed it too Rihanna. It had a picture of a very familiar monster surrounded by writing. At the bottom of the picture in red writing, was the word "Dangerous."

"Errr, yeah. It was that…"

"Right, that explains one thing for you. Their saliva contains very powerful hallucinogens that can make people think even their closest friends are their deadliest enemies."

"So that's why he kept running away from me?"

"Exactly. So then what?"

"Well, he was still acting funny when we found Yuffie and he kept running off. But then he was fine as soon as we found this materia…"

Rihanna paused for a minute, listening to the ticking of the clock behind her. Tseng was waiting patiently for her to carry on.

"But then, after a while, he was acting funny again. Then he gave the materia to Yuffie, and he was fine again. He was alright until we got to that sleeping forest. Then he thought Elena was Vanessa and tried to attack us."

"I see. I don't think this is any coincidence…"

"What do you mean?"

"In that journey, Reno has been tried to be manipulated twice… somebody wants him…"

"You think?" Rihanna heart skipped a beat as she thought of the people that would want Reno most.

"This materia… has it always been this color?" Tseng said, staring at the pale green materia.

"No, it was blue, then dark green."

"Hmm, do you fully understand the logic behind materia, Rihanna?" he asked her.

"Umm…"

"When materia is used, it changes color slightly… there was no-one using this materia, yet it still changed color."

"Is it possible for materia to act on its own accord?"

"Not as far as I know…" Tseng said thoughtfully. "But I do not claim to be an expert in materia. I would say it is some sort of manipulative materia, but seems that somehow it has been set to only target Reno. But I have no idea how…"

"Sir? You don't think this has anything to do with …Vanessa?"

"Vanessa? Why do you ask?" Tseng looked at her curiously.

"Well… because it was Vanessa that Reno thought he saw in the forest and it seems Vanessa was the only person who really wanted Reno dead."

"Hmph, you have a lot to learn. There are a lot of people that want the Turks dead, Reno probably the most. But Vanessa does seem probable, although she was killed."

"She may have had accomplices?" Rihanna suggested.

"She may have done…"

"So what's to stop them… avenging Vanessa?"

"There is nothing stopping them. You really use logic…."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"Well it is something that needs sorting… Reno's life may be in danger again. If they try to manipulate him again…"

"Well, we'll have to make sure he doesn't go off on his own… right?"

"Right. But with someone like Reno, that could be easier said than done. Look out for him Rihanna."

Rihanna nodded her head, "I will…"


	25. Love

**A/N: **This is it: the last chapter! I was going to do another one, but yeah, I decided this is the last chapter. Don't worry though, it won't take long for the sequel to be up. And I know, that I have left a LOT of loose threads, but that's what the sequels for, so please don't remind me and tell me that it's not finished.; all will become clear soon enough!

Thank you sooooo much to all my reviewers, particularly Le Pecore Nere, Jeanneandheralters, and Ruby, you're constant reviewing means so much to me guys!! XD

* * *

Chapter 25 - Love

Rihanna looked out of the open windows, absently watching the bystanders. Her attention was caught by two people making their way to the entrance of the headquarters. One was a woman with long dark brown hair; the other was a man, slightly taller, with blonde hair. They were vaguely familiar to Rihanna and as she watched them enter the door, she sank deeper and deeper into thought. Someone was out to get Reno, and she desperately wanted to know what was happening. Tseng had told her about the trouble Reno used to have with Cloud and Tifa, but neither of them thought it had anything to do with them. She jolted out of her thoughtful state with the realisation of who the two people were. What were Cloud and Tifa doing there?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Rihanna jumped around as the door opened.

"Don't try anything…" Tseng said to no-one in particular, and Cloud and Tifa entered the room, looking solemn. Cloud stared at Rihanna, looking as though realisation had dawned over him, and then looked away. Tseng left the room, leaving the three of them alone.

"Listen…" Tifa started, "We came to see you because Yuffie seems to have befriended you the most. We wanted to talk to Reno, but Tseng said he wasn't here…"

Tifa stopped and Cloud seemed to laugh slightly under his breath.

"So what do you want?" Rihanna said, not caring how rude she sounded.  
"We want Yuffie back, obviously," said Cloud.

"It's not up to me…" Rihanna shrugged, "Yuffie made her decision; I don't like to change people's minds for them…"

"All we want is to talk with Yuffie…" Tifa said, trying to keep her voice kind, "Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, sure I do. She's with Reno, at his apartment," Rihanna told them, smirking.

Neither Cloud or Tifa said anything, Tifa simply stared at Rihanna and then stormed out of the room, presumably to go and try to get Yuffie. Cloud stayed a little longer, Rihanna stared at him, expecting him to snap at her. But he didn't, he simply stared at her, his brilliant blue eyes filled with what seemed to be regret.

"Sorry about this…" he said, before walking out after Tifa.

* * *

Reno opened his eyes, squinting slightly and looked around the brightly lit room. Someone had carefully stripped him down to his boxers and laid him down on his bed, probably while he was still unconscious. 

"So, you're awake?" came a cheerful voice from his left. He looked around to see Yuffie sitting in a chair next to him. "I was wondering how much longer you'd be out."

Reno didn't reply. He could not clearly remember what had happened after they left the village. He was surprised that he actually made it out OK.

"You had us really worried you know," she said, sitting down next to him, "We thought you were just asleep at first, but 3 days is a long time for anyone to sleep, even you."

"Rihanna?" he croaked.

"She's at work. Umm… she wanted you to know that she wanted to be here with you, but Tseng wanted her to come in today. Apparently it's hard to work when they're missing two Turks. 'No matter how incompetent they are…' as Tseng put it."

"Ha, he doesn't mean that. If he did he would have fired me ages ago…"

"Yeah, whatever Turk-boy." Yuffie moved over to sit on the bed next to Reno. "She called earlier… apparently Cloud and Tifa were at Shinra headquarters – they were planning on trying to get me to come back."

"Cloud and Tifa?"

"Yeah, apparently they wanted to talk to you, but as you weren't there…"

"Oh, so they want you to go back?"

"Yeah, of course they do. I'm not going though…" she folded her arms, pouting.

"Why not?"

"Because I wanna stay here!" she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But, why? Why did you stay with us in the first place?"

Yuffie didn't reply, she sat, staring ahead of her, her face slightly blushing. He could almost see in her dark brown eyes, she was trying to think of a way to word what she was about to say.

"Reno…."

"Yeah…?" Reno smirked at her and she blushed.

"Ummm…." She looked over at Reno still thinking, "I wanted to stay… b-because of you… don't you get it?"

"No…" Reno tried not to smirk as Yuffie still sat there, thinking.

"Well…"

She leaned forwards and pulled Reno into a kiss. Reno didn't resist, despite being shocked at the suddenness of it all. As he looked into her deep brown eyes, he could see a kind of desperation that told him that this was the real reason.

"You see?" she said, pulling out of the kiss.  
"No, not really." Reno smirked, "I think you'll have to try harder…"


	26. Notice

**Notice to Readers,**

**Thank you to everyone who read/favourited/reviewed this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you enjoyed this story, don't forget to check out Crash and Burn, Baby, which is the third sequel. I hope it will be as successful as the other two have been. Thank you again!!**

**Love,**

**Laura (yes that's my real name)**


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